Sluice-box.



P EX E0 LB m APPLICATION FILED OUT.2. 1907.

mk N VE N T05 V A TTOHNEYS W/TNESSES I fimw tJlLLULU Dir-Lind AENT NEIL QUIGLEY, OF DAWSON, YUKON, CANADA.

SL'UICE-BOX.

no. seasee.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEIL QUIGLEY, United States citizen, and a resident of Dawson, Yukon Territory, and Dominion of Canada, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sluice-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In this character of box it has been the practice to provide a false bottom of reticulated or perforated material, and to provide the true bottom beneath the false with a covering of matting or a blanket material for taking up the fine gold, platinum, etc., that passes through the false or sieve bottom, but such covering after a few hours running is usually filled up by the fine particles of gold and accompanying black sand, and will take no more, hence a waste of time and material is the result.

T aim to provide for a saving of time and also a large saving of material, by constructing a sluice box with a revolving apron adapted to catch the material, so shaped that a portion of it will have movement in a body of water outside of the sluice box, whereby the belt or apron is kept washed clean, and to provide a means for running the belt or apron by the water passing through the box.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both of the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the improved sluice box, part being broken away; and Fi 2 is a longitudinal central section throu h the box, the section being taken practically on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

A. represents a section of the flume, A a second section, and A the sluice box which is located between the two flume sections, as is shown in Fig. 2. The box consists of a bottom 10 and sides 11, being open at the top and open at each end, and a sieve bottom 12 is likewise provided for the box, separated from the true bottom, the said sieve bottom being constructed of any reticulated or perforated material, and the fiume section A at the introductory end of the sluice box is at its bottom on a level with the sieve bottom 12, while the fiume section A at the discharge end of the sluice box has its bot- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 2, 1907.

Patented July 14:, 1908.

Serial No. 395.520.

tom portion on a level with the true bottom 10 of the box, so that the incoming water is forced to flow over the sieve bottom 12, while atthe delivery end of the sluice box the discharge of water is free both at the top and at the bottom of said false bottom. To that end the false or sieve bottom 12 is supported at the receiving end of the sluice box by a block 13 that extends from side to side of the box, resting on its bottom, while at the delivery end of the sluice box, the sieve bottom 12 rests upon two side blocks 14; only, as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the true bottom 10 of the sluice box between its center and its delivery end, two transverse openings 15 and 16 are produced, to accommodate rollers designated respectively as 17 and 18, and the said rollers 17 and 18 are supported by suitable bearings 19. In connection with the said rollers a third roller 20 is provided located below and about centrally between the rollers 17 and 18. The lower roller 20 is supported by hangers 21 that extend down from the sides of the sluice box, being received at their upper ends in brackets 22 and secured therein by set screws, or their equivalents. The lower roller 20 extends within a box 23 suitably supported below the sluice box, and this auxiliary box 23 is adapted to contain water, as is illustrated in Fig. 2. An apron 24 constructed of a blanket material, or a material that will hold fine particles of gold, is passed over the said rollers 17, 18, and 20, the upper stretch of which apron lies along the upper face of the true bottom 10 of the sluice box, as is illustrated in Fig. 2. This apron receives the particles of gold that pass through the sieve bottom 12, and as this apron 'is constantly revolved or is constantly in motion, it passes into the water contained in the auxiliary box 23, and is thereby washed of the material clinging to it, enabling the said apron to continuously take up material and discharge the same.

A trunnion 25 is carried from one end of the roller 17 and at the extended portion of the trunnion a sprocket wheel 26 is secured. A shaft 27 is located about centrally of the sluice box above the same, and this shaft 27 is journaled in suitable bearings 28 secured usually to the outer side faces of the box, and at one end of the shaft 27 a sprocket wheel 29 is secured, and likewise a sprocket pinion 30. The shaft 27 acts as a pivot for a carrier arm B, and said arm consists of side straps 31 and a connecting member 32, the straps 31 extending further in direction of the discharge end of the sluice box than in direction of its receiving end, and the connecting member 32 islocated between the shaft and the ends of the said straps that are adjacent the discharge end of the sluice. These end portions of the straps serve as bearings for a water wheel B, and the said wheel consists of a hub 33 from which blades 33 radiate, and ordinarily a tie band 34 is carried over the outer ends of the said blades, but this tie band may be omitted if desired, and at the shorter end of the carrier arm B, or that end which faces the receiving end of the sluice, a box 35, or a plat form, is located, upon which weights may be placed to counterbalance the wheel B, and the longer end portion of the said arm. A sprocket wheel 36 is secured to the outer end of one of the trunnions of the wheel B, and this sprocket wheel 36 is connected by a crossed belt 37 with the sprocket wheel 29 on the pivot shaft 27, while a second, straight belt 38 connects the sprocket wheel 26 of the roller 17 with the sprocket pinion 30 on the aforesaid pivot shaft. By this construction,

as the water passes through the sluice box it revolves the wheel B, and the wheel in its turn by the said belt connections causes the gathering belt 24 to have continuous movement, and as this belt travels in the body of water above referred to it is continuously cleaned. By pivoting the carrier arm for he water wheel B, the said wheel is free to rise and fall so as to clear itself of any obstructions it may encounter and yet remain in the water.

The device is exceedingly simple, is economical, and is well adapted for the purpose intended.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

The combination with a sluice box and a screen spaced from. the bottom thereof, the space between the bottom and the screen being closed at the inlet end of the sluice and opened at the outlet end, the said bottom of the sluice adjacent to its outlet end being provided with openings, a roller mounted to revolve in each of said openings, a third roller mounted to revolve between and below the rollers in the bottom of the sluice, and an apron of absorbent material carried by said rollers, of a counterbalance water Wheel eX- tending within the sluice above the screen, being operated by the water passing through the sluice, and a driving connection between said wheel and one of the supporting Wheels for the said apron. I

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

NEIL QUIGLEY. l/Vitnesses:

B. B. SMITH, J. E. MoMAnoN. 

